


Tim's Deal Ra's Ending

by Emmyb102



Series: Tim's Deal Ra's' Ending [2]
Category: Batman - All Media Types, DCU (Comics), Red Robin (Comics)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Assassin Tim Drake, Assassins, BAMF Tim Drake, Cross-Posted on Wattpad, Dubious Morality, Gen, Kinda, M/M, Mentions of Crossdressing, Moral Ambiguity, Moral Dilemmas, Not Canon Compliant, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Ra's al Ghul Acutally Cares About Consent, Ra's al Ghul is a Creep, Self Confidence Issues, Self-Esteem Issues, Tim Drake Has Issues, Tim Drake Has Mental Health Issues
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-28
Updated: 2019-10-28
Packaged: 2020-12-09 13:41:04
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,135
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20995721
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Emmyb102/pseuds/Emmyb102





	Tim's Deal Ra's Ending

Nanda Parbat was looking a little different when he came back from his latest mission. Not in the physical sense, but the way everyone moved was different, like something major happened while he was away.

Pru meets him down one of the side streets on his way to the palace at the center of the city, she looks a little worried which prompts Tim to ask, "what happened?"

"He brought a...woman back with him while you were away."

Tim hums, "I see, you're worried for my position?"

"I'm worried for your _life_, Tim."

He tenses a bit due to her seriousness, "what do you know about her?"

"She's smart, and cut-throat. Good with getting people to do what she wants. Very pretty, the third daughter of some rich Egyptian conglomerate. She got Z sent away on what could very well be a suicide mission because she didn't like his look. Owens and I have been trying to help him from here."

"How smart?"

"Not on par with you or Ra's, but better than the rest of us."

"So it's merely a test. Good. We'll get Z back here first, then I'll take care of this girl."

"Ra's said he wanted to meet with you as soon as you got back. Wants to introduce you two."

Tim quickly calculates, "okay. I can do that. While I'm busy with that, I want everything about her compiled into notes and then I want to hear about Z." Pru nods sharply and tells him they're in the throne room before disappearing to find Owens.

"Ah, my Nightingale!" Ra's greets from his throne as Tim walks in, a woman sitting to the side in a smaller, less regal chair. "You're back. Your mission went well, I hope?"

Tim merely smiles at him, coming to the edge of the dais, and with a shallow nod from Ra's, he climbed it, coming to a stop a mere foot from Ra's. "It did, thank you, Ra's. I can give the report now, if you wish?"

"I rather like to hear your reports in private," Ra's runs a hand down Tim's side.

Tim smiles sharply, "as you wish."

Ra's was preparing to say something else when a polite cough interrupted him, but he didn't let his irritation show. "Ah, yes. My Nightingale, meet Rania Gamila Rashada. Rania, this is my soon-to-be heir, Nightingale."

Tim's smile turns more vicious at that, he was right, this was a test or he would have been introduced as Timothy. He bows slightly to her, "it's delightful to meet someone who's caught my Lord's eye, Miss Rashada."

She looks pleasant, but her eyes scream calculating, "please, call me Rania, Nightingale. And the pleasure is mine."

"Beautiful indeed. Your parents named you well, Miss Rania."

Her eyes shine like she's won, "thank you, dear."

Tim bows again and turns back to Ra's, "is that all you need of me?"

Ra's gives him a smile and he knows he's on the right track, "indeed. Take a shower and come to my office to give your report."

Tim nods and leaves, listening to Owens and Pru tell him what happened with Z while he showers and changes. Once he's caught up and making plans, he gives them their orders and heads to Ra's' office to report. Ra's is at his desk, reading through papers and doesn't even acknowledge his presence until he drapes himself over Ra's' chair and shoulders.

"Really now, Ra's. Must you find the most annoying woman to test me with?"

Ra's spares him a smile as he continues reading, "yes, I see now that I was a bit too hasty in my decision to choose her. She's not nearly as cunning as I was hoping for. I have already dealt with the person who recommended her."

Tim snorts, "what were her parents thinking, naming her Rania? Delight my ass." He leans back now that Ra's has his attention on him, "I'm going to go rescue Z from whatever shit hole you two have managed to put him in. I'm taking Owens with me so do make sure Pru doesn't get into any trouble, would you?"

"Isn't she your problem as her superior?"

"Yes, but that haughty soon-to-be consort of yours is your problem. And we both know how annoying it would be to have to build everything back up when she inevitably pulls the wrong move on the wrong person and this all comes crashing down." Tim slides onto the armrest of Ra's' chair with a poisonous smile. "My team are some of your main support beams, you know that. Ensure that this empire of yours is still standing by the time I return? I'd be sad to see it go."

Ra's mirrors his smile and pulls Tim into his lap, "oh, you would?"

"Of course." Tim leans into him slightly, "it's somewhat useless to be heir to another collapsed empire. I feel like one is more than enough for a single person, no?"

"Ah, yes. The Drake's would be considered an empire, wouldn't they?"

"Now now, Ra's. No need to sound jealous of a long forgotten line. Not to mention that they had nowhere near your expansive influence so I'd say that I upgraded, no?"

"Indeed, you did. I think we both benefited from this arrangement." Ra's mussed distantly, running his fingers through Tim's hair.

They sat in comfortable silence for a few minutes before Tim remembered what he was here for originally. "I can file my report before we leave tomorrow or you can hear it now?"

Ra's gave a little sigh and let him up, "better hurry with that plan. I fear my city can only last another week with her here."

"You can always kill her early," Tim pauses at the door with a grin, "but then again, you want me to do that." He didn't even have to look back to know that Ra's was grinning back at him.

Rescuing Z was easy (not much of a rescue to be honest, Z had it in hand) so they were back in Nanda Parbat in less than three days. Ra's, true to his unspoken word, hadn't let Rania run amuck too much and had kept an eye on Pru to make sure she didn't do anything rash like kill the annoying woman. 

He asks Z to hide away for a few days so Tim can lay some more groundwork before ripping the rug out from under Rania. Two days later, he sent for Z to come back and had him meet Ra's, Rania, and Tim in the throne room to deliver his mission report. Tim stood to the left of Ra's' throne while Rania sat in a chair to the right, Tim much closer to him than Rania was. And she noticed, if the absolutely acidic look she had was anything to go by, it only got worse when Z came into the room, stopping at the edge of the dais in a bow, "my Lord, Boss."

Tim reigned in his smirk when Rania looked absolutely murderous, "_Z_, how nice to have you back. Training has been rather boring without one of our _elite_."

"My apologies for keeping you waiting, Boss." Tim could hear the eye roll in his voice and had to force himself not to smile at it.

"Your report?" Ra's interrupts their moment dryly.

"Of course, my Lord. All known remaining members of Leviathan have been eliminated."

Tim cocks his head, leaning a bit on Ra's' chair, "the rebel organization your daughter created with traitors from the league?" Ra's merely nods while Rania gets a sudden gleam in her eyes, "I thought you were going to let _me_ handle that. I still have revenge to dole out."

Ra's spares him a glance from the side of his eye, "she's dead, my Nightingale, and his father brought him back to life. There is no revenge to give."

Tim scoffed, "maybe not for you, but if you remember, she gave me quite a few scars." He pouts, "I can't even go spit on her grave."

Ra's smirks and runs his fingers up Tim's arm, "you're so petty, my dear."

"Yes, and I suppose you wouldn't be, what's _another _person's betrayal to you?"

"Why are you letting this boy talk to you like this, darling?" Rania finally puts in.

"This _boy_ is his soon-to-be heir, Miss Rania. And I've _earned _my place." The 'have you?' went unsaid but very much so received if her lividly outraged eyes were any indication.

A bland smile is pasted on her face, "I see, and I suppose an heir has more free-reign than a consort?"

Tim gives a bland smile back, "a consort is an empty title here. You should have begged for 'wife' if you wanted power." He leans into Ra's' space to whisper, "such a power hungry novice you have there, Ra's." When Ra's smiles and nods in agreement, Tim smiles back, moving down the dais to Z before turning back to them with a slight bow. "If there is nothing more to discuss, my Lord, Z and I will be training. Good day Ra's. Miss Rania."

Z gives a deep bow before following Tim out the door and to the training room where the rest of his team is waiting. Tim cracks up as soon as he sees Pru and Owens, Z smiles amused beside him. "So how was the Wicked Witch of the East?" Pru asks once his laughter subsides.

"She's so easy." Tim smiles, "I'd estimate a week till she tries to betray Ra's. Then we'll have a reason to kill her and Ra's can finish with his plan of announcing me heir officially."

"And you're going to take it?" Owens asks, eying him like he's trying to analyze him.

Tim tilts his head, "why wouldn't I? If I'm in a position of power I can change the League so it runs better."

It was Z now, that asks, "what about your plan?"

Tim bites his lip, "I-I think I'll keep it. Just in case. But I can see now that the world really needs organizations like this." He can't bring himself to look at them, "now that my goal has changed, I won't stop you if you want to leave."

There's a moment of quiet before Pru pulls him into a hug and for a second, Tim thinks she's saying goodbye, but she just whispers, "we're not leaving you, Timmy."

Tim chokes and he lets his tears fall as he buries his face in her shirt, fists twisted into her jacket. Owens comes up from behind to bring them both into a crushing hug, "you can't get rid of us that easily, Boss!"

A half sob half laugh comes from him and Z ruffles his hair, "we'll always help you, Tim."

Needless to say the next five days went by in a flurry of cuddles, training, and paperwork. By the fifth day, both Ra's and Tim had heard of the ninja Rania had under her thumb moving to get ready for a revolt. That night, Tim, his team, and most of Ra's' personal guard went out to quietly deal with the traitors.

The next morning Rania said the activation sentence in the middle of conversation at breakfast, and towards the end of it, she was looking rather annoyed. When Ra's brought it up, she just waved it off, but Tim smiled wickedly at her, "I think she's worried her little army of traitors haven't started making noise yet."

"Oh? Why would she? She should know that traitors are killed immediately." Ra's replied in a toying tone.

"She's dumber than she looks if she thought we would allow her to actually follow through on the plans she practically told us about herself."

She stood up in a rage, but Z and Owens put a hand on her shoulders and forced her back down, and Tim gave her an unimpressed look, "shut up and sit down before you do something _else _incredibly stupid, Miss Rania."

"I'm surprised you thought you could actually pull this off with how limited your knowledge of this city and it's workings are." Tim continued, needling her weak spot until she snapped, "you really should think before you act, but then again, you really can't hope for much from a _whore's child_, can you?"

She flew across the table, a league issued throwing knife in hand, too bad she didn't know how to use it. She got less than a foot from Tim's face before four throwing knives were in her, two in the back, one in the eye, and Tim's in her throat.

"My studies concluded her mother was of a high status." Ra's asked without asking and sipped his tea.

"She was." Tim answered, pushing Rania back into her chair as she chokes on her own blood, "but Rania didn't know that. Her father never told her who her mother was, so it was easy to conclude that she would assume it was someone of low station, and that Rania herself was a mistake. A very easy weakness, really."

"A little anticlimactic," Ra's almost pouts.

Tim snorts, "next time you should find a more challenging challenger."

They finish their breakfast and part ways for their own daily work.

It's nearing the end of his fourth year with Ra's, and he's got an undercover mission coming up. A probably long undercover mission to eliminate the target in a way that won't raise suspicions. Luckily, his target has a type that Tim fits into nicely, now all he needs is a new wardrobe.

"Ra's," Tim calls from where he's sprawled on the sofa, "can you help me with selecting a wardrobe for my mission?"

"Your team can't do it?"

"No," he whines, "Pru has no sense for the style I'm in need of, Owens is biased to literally anything that shows off skin, and Z is on a mission."

"What _style_ are you looking for?"

"Pretty secretary," Tim says with a smile, watching as Ra's slowly looks up from his work to finally look at where Tim is lounging in a feminine blouse, tight curvy slacks, and cute heels.

Ra's just blinks, like he can't be sure that what he's seeing is real. Tim smirks, "well, if your reaction is anything to go by, I should be good."

"You're going to wear that?"

Tim shrugs, "I got some dresses and skirts too. Come help me pick."

Ra's stands up slowly and Tim leads him to his room where clothes were tossed in many different piles and folded on his bed. Ra's sits on an empty chair as Tim changes into a t-shirt dress, leggings, and boots. Ra's tells him he looks good in everything, but helps him pick out appropriate work clothes anyway. They spent four hours as Ra's told him what would work and what looked too slutty. In the end, he packed three suitcases for what would most likely be a half year long mission.

He got back a few months into the fifth year, mission successful and is almost immediately send on another one with Owens that only takes a week.

When he returns, his team congratulates him on his 200th mission and Ra's announces him as his heir (officially). Nothing really changes after that, everyone was already treating him as the heir even before Talia went off the rails. He still gets twice weekly spars with Ra's (who has become the _only _one who can stand a chance of beating him) and slightly less paperwork to do now. Ra's has given his team official positions as Tim's personal guard and trainers. And he can't remember the last time Ra's has called him 'Timothy'. 

He had his ninja in Gotham stop picking up the letters from the Bats over a year ago, when communication with them was practically non-existent. Cass had only showed up once since then, took one look at him and gave him a hug with a sad look that Tim just knew meant she was saying goodbye. He didn't bother saying he was sorry, because honestly, he didn't know if he was and he didn't want what might have been his last words to her to be a lie.

Now that he's officially heir and Ra's seems to have complete trust in him after Rania, he has a little bit more free reign with his missions and team. His group of subordinates has also grown larger, from the three he started with, to the thirteen he was allowed, and now the fifty more ninja thrust upon him. So he's not all that surprised when most of his missions end up with three or more of his subordinates tagging along.

He's in Germany when a somewhat familiar leather jacket grabs his target and pushes him into an apartment building. Internally, he curses, sending slow, bored glances in every direction, looking for more Bats discreetly. He keeps his dead college teenager act up and slips into the apartment building less than a minute after Jason and his target had. He has four shadows today, including Pru, and a fifth one he can actually _see _that doesn't belong to any of his people.

He glances at the elevator, but it's on his floor so that leaves the stairs, he texts Pru to keep the newbies away while he deals with the interlopers, she gave him a thumbs up emoji. He headed for the stairs at a slow pace, eyes on his phone like every teenager, pushing the stair door open with his hip and not even pausing his gait to walk up the stairs. His phone screen gave him a reflection of what was behind him and he had enough peripheral sight to see in front of him without looking up, not that he needed to see. He could hear steps at the very top floors, fast, running steps and felt an unusual quietness on the third floor's door. He texted Pru again to deal with the target on the upper floors, she gave him another thumbs up and he readied himself to be bodily carried through a door and pushed into a wall (because, lets be real here, this is _Red Hood_, there's really no other way this could go).

And that's how it happened, he was snatched by the collar of his hoodie, pulled through the door, and slammed into the wall face first. Hood's thigh pushed between his own and Tim gave a sultry smile, "is that your gun or are you just that happy to see me, Jason?"

"Can it, Replacement. Goldie want's to talk to you," Jason growled.

"What? No Bruce?"

Jason was silent.

"Dick wouldn't understand."

"And what? You think B will?"

"Probably not, but I think Damian will, and I know Cass will."

Again, Jason was silent.

"You gonna take me to Dick or you just gonna harass me?"

Jason grabs the scruff of his hoodie again and drags him down a few doors to a semi-open one and pushes him in, closing the door behind them.

"What? Got nothing to say to me anymore?"

Jason ignored him.

"I think you're just mad you're not the only pit zombie in the Dead Robins Club anymore."

"Why the fuck would Ra's go through so much trouble for you?" His eyes flash green.

"Why did Talia go through even more trouble for _you_?"

"For Bruce."

"Yes, it's always about Bruce isn't it?" Tim mussed, "Talia wanted to help her Beloved, Ra's wanted his Detective back and I was apparently the only way to find him."

Jason doesn't say anything.

"Did you even _read_ the files I left you? You should be more in control of it by now."

"Of course I read them! But putting it into practice is much harder than it seems."

Tim watches him breathe, "yeah, you were always an emotional person."

The door opens and Dick comes limping in.

"What happened to you, Goldie?"

"You attacked one of my people?" Tim asks with a laugh.

"You became the _Demon's Heir_!"

"I'm well aware. Is this going to just be a reiteration of known facts? Because I don't have time for that."

"Why aren't your people in here now, trying to get you out?" Jason asks with a glance to the windows where Pru is clearly seen on the balcony across the street.

"I told them to stay back because there's nothing that really justifies killing you." Tim shrugs, "I mean, you don't really do much either way."

Jason growls at that, but lets Dick talk from there on out, "why'd you stop contacting us, Timmy?"

"I didn't. You guys did. I just stopped sending my ninja in for nothing."

Dick flinches, "ther-there was a lot going on at the time-"

"I know." Tim interrupts, "and I'm sorry for your loss. Alfred was an amazing man."

Dick glances at Jason and Jason replies with a 'you do it' gesture.

_Ahh, that's what they want._ "I'm not putting him in the pit."

"Why not?"

"Because nothing's the same after you die." Tim murmurs, "dead things should stay dead."

Jason gives a slight nod and Dick glances between both their haunted faces.

"You helped us bring Damian back."

"I almost didn't. Some thing's aren't worth messing with the natural order of. It's one of the reasons why I gave you a method that would be hard to accomplish, but also hard to fuck up." Tim gave a little lopsided smile, "I wasn't sure Damian would want to be brought back. I know I didn't."

"Were you there? For the funeral?" Jason asked quietly.

"Alfred's? Yeah. It was nice. He would have liked it."

There was a lull until Dick said, "I'm so sorry we forgot about you."

"It's fine. I get it. I'm easily forgettable. So forget about me."

"You're _not_ forgettable! Timmy, we...we want you back. Please come back. It's not the same without you."

"I can't go back Dick. I'm not the same as before. Too many years with Ra's in your ear and he starts to make _sense_. Too many years spent like this and you kind of don't want to go back to how it used to be." Tim gives a small smile, "forget about me, Dick. It's what's best for you. For everyone."

"Can it, Replacement. Killing people doesn't change you that much."

"No, it really doesn't change anything. Isn't that scary?" Tim's dead eyes bore holes into Jason's soul, "morals are so flimsy and convoluted, people can justify anything just by changing the view a little. 'Why'd you kill all those people?' 'To save so many more.' Isn't that what the _'good'_ guys use to justify it? What's so different about us using it? We kill bad people who are getting away without their governments doing anything about it."

"You consider yourself one of the League?" Dick rasps, eyes wide.

"I'm the heir, of course I consider myself one of the League." Tim takes a deep breath, before standing up. "Look, guys, I'm not Tim anymore. I'm Nightingale, heir to Ra's' empire and leader of the elite teams. There's nothing you can do for me so forget about me. Go home and pretend I was never in your lives, because that wasn't me. That was a little fake you all believed."

"Fake?"

Tim lets out a cruel laugh at Dick's stupidity even though Jason seems to understand. "The real Timothy Drake died before he could even understand his parents, as with most _socialites_. Habits trained out, personas drilled in, honestly, working as Robin was easier than my parents 'training'. They left me alone for months to 'teach' me independence. They brought me to galas and left me to fend for myself. Growing up a Drake makes one leave their boundaries and ethics behind when the only thing you can show people is the perfect person. My parents wanted the perfect Drake, Batman wanted the perfect Robin, you wanted the perfect little brother." Tim shrugs again, "Ra's doesn't care about perfection. He wants me to be me, fucked up views and all."

Dick and Jason are both stunned speechless and Tim takes the moment to move to the window and open it. "It's nice to finally find myself again." Jumping out the window, he doesn't look back as he and Pru haul ass back to the plane and leave before they even think to follow.

It's been forty years since Nightingale had last seen Bruce, over twenty years since Bruce handed the mantle over to Damian, and now, he's dead at 82. Ra's watched as Pru all but shoved Nightingale onto the plane, Z and Owens behind them, and they left for his funeral. 

He slipped into the back of the service as Dick was speaking about Bruce, Pru at his side, Z and Owens out of view as their ninja bodyguards. The service was semi-public, the funeral after was private, so Dick spoke about how great a man Bruce was, followed by Jason, then Damian, then Steph and Babs in her wheelchair, Cass was up there for the girls' moral supports. None of them looked good, Bruce's death really hit them hard. Through the entirety of their speeches, the only one who noticed him and Pru was Cass, who's eyes widened slightly and stared at them the whole time she was up there. Once the speeches were over, Cass made a beeline to him and looked him over, the closest reporters watching their interaction.

"Look good. No change." Cass said, voice hoarse from crying.

"Thank you, _Aunt _Cass. You look good too. I'm sorry for your loss."

One of the reporters was courageous enough to come closer, "and who's this fine looking gentleman? He looks quite familiar."

"Nephew," Cass answers shortly

Nightingale smiles at the reporter, holding out his hand, "Jack Drake. Cass is my adoptive aunt."

"Drake? As in Timothy Drake? You look just like him!"

"That's what my parents always said, except I have my mother's eyes."

"And what a gorgeous green they are."

"Thank you."

Cass tugs on his sleeve, "pallbearer."

"You want me to be a pallbearer? But I never meet him before."

"Tim's place."

"Are the others okay with that?"

"Will be. Come." She grabs his hand and leads him through the crowd to the front, Pru trailing behind them.

When the others catch sight of them, they freeze up, but Cass is almost smiling, so they relax a bit as she introduces them, "Jack. Nephew. Pallbearer."

Dick takes the lead, like always, "know how to carry a casket, kid?"

"Seen it enough times, I should hope so."

"Then you're hired." He looks behind them to Pru, "who's your friend?"

"My minder. I'm told I get into all kinds of trouble by myself."

"Got any more of them hanging around?"

"Maybe."

"Fifteen more minutes and we'll take the coffin to the hearse. Stick around till then."

Nightingale moves back to Pru and whispers, "this was a mistake."

"Only if you make it one."

"They don't want me here. I shouldn't have come."

"Cass looks like she's happy you're here. I'm sure the others are too."

"I'm not their family anymore, Pru. And we haven't seen each other in more than thirty years, why _would_ they be happy to see me?"

They fall into silence and when the time comes, they carry the casket in silence too. They drive to the manor's graveyard in silence and carry the casket back out in silence. Most of the people left to watch are or were supers, Diana, Clark, Victor, Wally, Oliver and Dinah, Selina's there too, most of his old Titans, some of the younger generation of vigilantes as well, and Carrie the new Robin to Damian's Batman. 

The older ones give him side eyes, the newer ones look curious, his old team look furious, but refrain from doing anything while the pastor is there. They get through the funeral quickly and once the pastor leaves, they all zero in on him. Cass is the first to move, she tackles him with a hug and then cuffs him on the head, which prompts Steph to straight up bitch slap him. Then everyone's frozen again, unsure of what they want to do.

"What'd I tell you, Pru? Such a warm welcome. It's a wonder I don't visit more." Nightingale comments dryly as Pru gives him a half amused smirk.

"You asshole!" Steph hisses, "you're taking over the League of Assassins!"

"It's been well over thirty five years, Steph. Are you still hung up about it?"

Damian and Cass grab her before she can even try to do what she was planning. "Leave it, Stephanie. He's here for Father, not us."

"And Alfred. If you want to start a fight with me, I'll be here til tomorrow evening, come find me then."

Cass grabs his hand and leads him and Pru over to the side a little, to another grave. "A."

"Thank you Cass." She nods then returns to her family and the others.

Half an hour later, while he's still squatting next to Alfred's grave, five shadows fall over him and he lets out a sigh. "Originally, I went with Ra's as an undercover operation, to destroy it from within. Had plans laid out and everything." He can feel the disbelief in their stares, "it was going great, until Talia slipped out from under my fingers and killed Damian. I gave the Bats the plan they used to bring him back, and it started making sense to me. The League is needed, but Ra's is too fixated on certain things that he's lost the bigger picture. In a few centuries, he'll let himself die and the League can work in the shadows again, where we've always worked best." They shift behind him and Pru tenses, "Ra's' last few dips in the pits drove him a little more insane than he'd admit to, that's why he's okay with me, even if we have different views. I'm in it for the long haul now. If I had left it to my first plan, no matter how many times I destroyed it, they'd come back. But if I lead it.... The future's going to be so much better."

"I don't believe you."

"That's alright, Kon. You don't have to. There's nothing you can do now anyway. The plans are already in motion." He stands, lethal and graceful, and turns to them, "it's good to see you guys again."

Leaving them, he heads back to the newer grave and places a little wood box next to all the flowers piled over the casket. And turns to leave, but Dick grabs his arm to stop him, "what was that?"

"A little something he asked me to get for him."

"When and what?"

"After he passed his mantle to Damian and-" he cuts himself off with a little smirk, "it's none of your business anymore."

"You met with him?"

"No. He emailed me. He wanted to ensure that Ra's would never get his hands on his body. I merely did as he asked."

"He has your email?"

"You do too. It hasn't changed and it never will." He slips his arm out of Dick's grip smoothly and leaves without anyone else bothering him.

The next day, Cass and Damian show up at his hotel room, Z opens the door for them while NIghtingale's in the shower. They're invited to breakfast with the family, all four of them, so they accept. _What could go wrong?_

Damian drives them to the manor and Dick opens the door for them, leading them into the dinning room where more than a dozen people are. The Bats, most of the old JL, the old Titans, and again, some of the newer selection of supers, practically everyone who was at the funeral yesterday.

They were sat somewhere near the middle, between the Bats and the old JL and across from the old Titans, Z opted to stand behind him rather than sit. Once everyone was settled, Clark delicately broached the subject they were brought here for, "Kon told us what you said yesterday."

"Am I supposed to be surprised by that? I didn't tell him anything that wasn't already known."

Pru snorts and Owens gives a small smirk, but nobody else reacts to that.

"We just want you to know what page we are on so this conversation can go quickly and smoothly."

Pru's stomach growls and Owens smirks wider as she interrupts quickly, "that's nice and all, but we were invited to _breakfast_ and apparently we weren't aware we had to bring our own _food_."

Jason snorts despite himself and Cass gives a small smile while Wally and Bart zip around, laying out the food. Pru and Owens start loading up his plate before eating off of it, the others watch in confusion and amusement at his put upon look, "what have I told you guys?"

"We're just checking for poison, Boss." Owens mumbles through a scone.

"You say that every time. Swallow before you talk," he tells them disgusted by their actions.

"It's just easier," Pru comments, face stuffed with a muffin.

"Why _do _we put up with them, again?" Z asks from the back, reaching for another slice of bacon.

"_You _have no room to talk, Z. I can't take you three anywhere." He slaps Pru's hand when she tries to pick up eggs with her fingers and shoves a fork in her hand, "where are your manners?"

"You can't blame us, Boss. We haven't had western food in years because of you."

He leans back with a muffin he managed to snag before they could, "I wonder where I'd be if I had just let you all die back then?"

"Aww, you love us, Timmy!"

"You'd probably still be with us," Z comments over Pru.

"True enough, Ra's is an asshole like that." 

Owens nods, "ain't he just?"

They fall into comfortable silence as they eat even under the stares of so many people. Eventually, the others start eating too and by then he feels safe in slipping some pit water into his coffee.

"Are you _drinking _that?" Sharp eyed Bart asks disgusted.

"That _is_ why I put it in my coffee, yes."

At Bart's horrified look, he and his team roll their eyes.

"I purify it first, obviously. I'm not going to drink something that's been in contact with dead people and _Ra's_ without it being thoroughly cleansed."

"But why drink it? I thought you dunk yourself in it?"

"Only the dead have to be tossed in," Jason piped up.

"And Ra's." He adds with a nod, "I'm a little different than Ra's because I began drinking it before I was dunked in it. Ra's was dunked in it first so that's the only thing he can do to stay young. Drinking it also means that it's easier to control the after effects of being revived with it."

"So, what? The more you use it the more insane you become?" Cassie asks, he nods, "then why are you using it?"

"There's always a price to pay when you're tampering with the natural flow of things. Based on my calculations I have five centuries to find an heir and then two more before I need to die. Ra's has passed the point of needing to die three to four centuries ago when the Pit began eating away too much of his mental capacities, Ra's knows this as well. I don't really want to get into the whole explanation of the pit when Jason has a file on it."

The table as a whole zero in on Jason who fidgets uncomfortably as he continues, "as for why I'm using it, it's part of the plan that can only be recognized centuries in the future. It starts with my League of Shadows, who have stayed well off the radars of the JL and most governments. We've dealt with Vandal Savage and his companions. We've locked Klarion out of this universe and taken care of Maxwell Lord. We've dealt with Trigon, Darkseid, Felix Faust, and a hundred more that wouldn't have even made it on your radars. We've been helping whether or not you like how we do it."

"Wait, I thought you were with the League of Assassins?"

"My League of Shadows is within the League of Assassins at the moment. As soon as I become head it'll be official and the world will have what it needs."

"Puppet masters controlling from the shadows?" Steph challenges.

"_Protectors _in the shadows. I have no wish to control the world. Freedom of choice is what makes the world one worth saving. I merely wish to make sure that a future never comes in which the world is _not _worth saving. There will be no more_ Demon's Head_ when I'm gone, merely Nightingale, the muse to which the world is _protected_."

Pru snickers as she tries to feed him a bacon strip, "Timmy gets prickly when people accuse him of being controlling. _Eat it._" 

He caves and almost bites her fingers in warning, "I'll eat on the plane later."

"You always sleep on the plane," Pru counters.

"That's because you suffocate him with cuddles on the plane," Owens teases.

"So do you-"

"Pru, Owens." He doesn't say anything else or even look at them, but they freeze and fall silent, staring at Kon and the plate before they nod and disappear out the room.

"Wha-where are they going?"

"They're dealing with Ra's' obsessive need-to-know-everything nature," he answers vaguely before a startled scream was heard in the vents.

"Must be some newbies if they scream like that," Z comments idly, poking Nightingale's mouth with another strip of bacon till he gives in again and eats it.

"That would have been Pru's target, so you can't really blame them, she looks positively demonic in the vents."

"Ain't that the truth, Boss." Owens is sitting right next to him again, shoving another scone down his mouth.

"If I remember correctly, you both screamed like you were in a B horror film the first time she popped up on you," Z smiles behind his coffee.

"You definitely remember that correctly. I thought Owens had pissed his pants he was so shocked. And Timmy fainted," Pru piped up from the vents as she crawled around, dragging something heavy behind her.

"To be fair, you _knocked _me out, I didn't _faint_."

"Po-tay-to, Po-tah-to. Why am I cleaning up after Owens, again?"

"Because you love me?"

"I'd sell you to Satan for a corn chip. And I don't even _like _corn chips."

"Give them to Mia and Damian," he reminds her.

"What the fuck do you think I'm doing?" Pru's voice floated faintly from the vents. _"Jesus_, send Owens back up here. One of them's heavier than Alexia." 

"You heard her."

Owens snags another scone before leaving again and Pru called out, "make sure he eats something, Z!"

"Don't even think about it, Z. I'll put you on paperwork for five years. Don't test me."

"Maybe, but Pru will beat me up so your threat's the lesser of two evils."

He sighs, "true," and chews on another bacon strip.

"I didn't even hear them." Clark says, Kon and Jon nod along, "how did you know they were there?"

"Well, I would hope we'd know. We trained them all, after all."

"You trained Ra's' personal guards?" Damian asks, shocked.

"Of course, we trained all the ninja. They needed to be stealthier so they wouldn't get caught on missions. The less people catching them, the less people are killed by them."

"Ra's made a whole rule of it after you talked to him," Z put in.

"Of course he did. 'Who's going to pay us to kill people if we do it for free?' Fell right into that one."

"Back to those people, did you kill them?" Dick asked even as five of them shake their heads.

"No. I don't kill my own people unless they've turned on us, and even then I don't do that now that I've got the twins."

"What do they do that changes it then?"

"One wipes memories and the other implants new ones. Unfortunately, they can't read minds so we still rely on interrogation for answers, but they're plenty good at that as well."

"How can you trust them not to turn on you?"

He and Z fix their gazes on Damian and Dick, "we killed their parents and they've followed us ever since. They may not be loyal to the League, but they are loyal to us."

"It helps that the pit negates anything they may try to do to our minds," Z adds on.

"Yes, that helps too." He shoves a scone in his mouth before Pru and Owens appeared by his side again.

"Good. He's eating."

"You're such a mother hen, Pru."

"You've got no room to talk, Owens. We're all mother hens."

"You definitely are," he mumbled around his scone.

"What was that, Timmy?"

"You say something, Boss?"

"Pot and kettle," Z warns him.

The meeting goes on like that, answering questions, cooling tempers, and explaining many things. By the time dinner rolls around, every one looks pretty comfortable with what he's doing even if they don't like how he's doing it or who he's doing it with. He and his team board the plane home that night and for once, the thought of the people he's left behind doesn't make him angry or sad.

It's been a century since this began, and Nightingale was ready to do what was needed. Most of the people he knew from before had died already, with the exception of Diana. Ra's felt he was ready to take over officially and was willing to step away completely. Already things were different from Ra's' reign, Nightingale's team, Ubu (Pru), Sensei (Z), and Alpha (Owens) were immortal as well. Most of their forces were ninja but only the elite were assassins. They watched from the shadows, protecting the good and making the bad disappear. They became a ghost story, told to little children to scare them into behaving, _if you're bad, Nightingale will send his shadows and spirit you away_. Diana still keeps in contact with him, together with Diana's JLI and his League of Shadows, they're able to steer the world into a better future.

Ra's watches from the sidelines as the world advances, the environment becomes better, less polluted as people build better ways to do everyday things and take care of the Earth. It only takes a century for it to become a cemented fact that Ra's chose the right heir and he moves back out into the world, marries a beautiful woman, and dies a fulfilled man.


End file.
